Our contractor has 30 more sprinkler heads to install and that will conclude the irrigation project on the back nine. They have 20 members of their team on site and their efforts will shift to forward tees, bunkers and general clean-up.
On #9, the approach area has been extended behind the fairway bunker. Ron Forse wanted to bring the ridge line beyond the bunker, back into play. Over the years, this feature had been lost, taking away some of the interest around the green. It is details like this, that we are trying to focus on.
#18 green, with the extended approach.
#17 Jones tee was resodded today.
Each Spring, we apply a heavy dosage of nutrients to the greens, to build up the nutrient load in the soil. Healthy turf begins with healthy soils, both from a fertility and physical property standpoint. Aerification is the perfect time to apply such products because the open holes allow the granules to get into the soil. We applied four specific fertilizers today:
1. 0-0-50 Polyon fertilizer which is slow release Potassium fertility put down at a high rate to last the season.
2. 0-0-18 fertilizer which is a quicker available Potassium for the turf compared to the Polyon.
3. Gypsum- a sulfur and Calcium product that doesn't changer the pH of a soil.
4. Pro Mag 36- this is a 36% Magnesium fertilizer used to raise Mg levels in the soil.
Note that there has been no Nitrogen fertilizer applied. That is because all of our Nitrogen, which controls plant growth, is applied in the form as weekly liquid foliar applications. This program is know as "spoon-feeding" or giving the turf exactly what it needs on a weekly basis, taking into account air temperatures, soil temperatures, rainfall, cloud cover etc. Excess Nitrogen fertilizer can cause real problems if applied at high rates. As a superintendent, I always want total control over the growth of the turf on our greens and don't want to loose that control that could happen with unpredictable Nitrogen release curves from soil applied Nitrogen sources. On a bag of fertilizer, there are three numbers. These are the percentages of Nitrogen-Phosphorous-Potassium in a bag of fertilizer. These are the three critical nutrients required of all plants for growth.